Machine for tonguing and grooving staves.



M N 0 Q v 9 v LN W H. R. McNElLL.

MACHINE FGR TONGUING AND GROOVING STAVE'S.-

APPLICATION FILED DEC-13.1914.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 120.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

H. R. McNElLL.

MACHINE FOR TONGUING AND GROOVING STAVES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18. 1914.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WIN/58858:,

How rd f. /V/@ /Z/e/// H. R. McNEILL.

MACHSNE FOR TONGUING AND GROOVING STAVES' APPLICATION FILED DEC.l8. 1914.

1,1 58,949. Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3 wwwmw: 3 VLUQ MM COLUMBIA FLANOGRAPM co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

HOWARD R. MCN'EILL,

OF EAS'I'ON, PENNSYLVANIA MACHINE FOR TONGUING- AND GROOVING STAVES.

Application filed December 18, 1914.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HOWARD R. MGNEILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Easton, in the county of Northampton, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Tonguing and Grooving Staves, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for tonguing and grooving staves and has for its object to provide a machine which will rapidly and effectively tongue and groove such staves as are commonly used in the manufacture of barrels and for similar purposes.

Owing to the irregular shape of ordinary barrel sta-ves which have curved edges and are somewhat bent or dished, it is impossible to handle them in an ordinary tonguing and grooving machine. Machines have been devised for tonguing and grooving staves in which two movably supported cutters are simultaneously pressed against the opposite edges of the stave. Owing to the irregularity in curvature, shape and thickness of the staves ordinarily used, this machine has not proved satisfactory and it has been found impossible to operate it at a high rate of speed.

In the machine which I have invented, the stave is directed by a movable guide to feed rollers which are so arranged that they grip it near one edge and press this edge of the stave firmly against a fixed guide through which a cutter supported on a fixed aXis projects. The stave is fed forward by these rollers while the groove is cut by the cutter and is then passed between transferring rollers which carry it forward against another movable guide, which directs the stave between second feed rollers, which grasp the stave near the edge which has not been grooved and feed it forward while a tongue is out upon the other edge of thestave. By means of tonguing and grooving the two edges of the stave successively while the stave is held in each operation by rollers pressing it near the edge which is being cut, I have produced a machine which will accurately tongue and groove irregular shaped Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

SeriaINo. 877,859.

barrel staves and will operate with great rapidity.

Other novel features and advantages of my invention will be pointed out in connection with the detailed description of the invention which follows.

A simple and convenient embodiment of my invention thus briefly outlined is illustrated in the annexed drawings, of which Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the machine looking from the discharging end; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section upon line H in i 'ig. 1 taken in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken upon the line 55 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 6 is a partial transverse section taken upon line 66 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 7 is a perspective View of a stave which has been tongued and grooved by the machine.

The framework of the machine consists of the table top 1, the vertical legs 2, the transverse braces 3 and the longitudinal braces 1. Two grooves 5, 6 are out in the upper surface of the table top. Portions of the table top are cut away, as indicated in the drawings, to allow space for the operative parts of the machine which are below the surface of the table top.

Upon the right hand end of the table top 1 (Figs. 1, 2) is the feeding magazine 7 for supporting a pile of staves to be tongued and grooved. This magazine consists of an inclined back 8 (see Fig. 5) and two edges 9.

' Upon the surface of the table top 1 are the fixed guides 10, 11 and the movable guides 12, 13. The fixed guides 10, 11, so termed because they remain stationary when the machine is in operation, are attached to the table top by the adjustment devices 1 1. These consist of the frames 15, screwed to the table top, the tapped blocks 18, secured to the fixed guides and the threaded bolts 17 which pass through holes 16 in the frames 15 and engage the threaded holes in the blocks 18. The bolts 17 are incapable of longitudinal movement relative to the frames and have square heads 19 by which they may be turned. The movable guides 12, 13 are pivoted to the table top at 20 and 21, respectively The weight 22 is attached to the guide 12 by a flexible string 23, passing over the pulley 24, while the weight 25 is simi-' larly attached tothe guide 13 by the string 26 passing over the pulley 27.

The feed rollers 28, 29 are mounted'upon the shafts 30, 31, which pass through the bearing frame 32. This bearing frame is attached to the upper surface of the table top 1 by the bolts 33. Directly below the rollers 28, 29 are the rollers 34, 35. These I rollers are mounted on the ends of the shafts 36, 37, which pass through the bearing frames 38, 39 (Fig. 5). The bearingframe 38 is pivotally connected with the bearing fixed guide 10. Consequently the front faces of the rollers 28, 29, 34, are at a slight angle to the guide 10.

The feed rollers 44, and the corresponding lower rollers 46, 47 are mounted upon the shafts 48, 49, 50, 51, which pass through the bearing, frame 52 and lower bearing frames precisely like bearing frames 38, 39

in the same way as the rollers and shafts already described. The lower rollers 46, 47 are drawn upward by springs which operate precisely like the springs 43 already described. I prefer to make the rollers 44, 45, 46, 47 slightly. larger than the rollers 28, 29, 34, 35. The feed rollers are shorter than the width of a stave, so. that they grip the stave near the edge only. The cylindrical surfaces of the feed rollers are obliquely grooved, as indicated in Figs. 1 :and 5. The

transferring rollers 53, 54 (Fig.6) are 1 longer than the feed rollers already referred to. These rollers are mounted upon the shafts 55, 56, which pass through the upper bearing frames 57, 58 and the lower bearing frames 59, 60, respectively. The lower bearing frames 59, '60 are attached to the table top by bolts 61.- The upper bearing frame 57 ispivotally attached to the frame '59by bolts 62. 1 The frame 58 is pushed downward by the springs 63, co-acting withthe nuts 64 nally grooved.

The feed plunger 66, best shown in Fig. 4, slides in the groove 67 in table top 1. 1A

metalcoverplate- 68 covers the endoflthis groove and prevents the plunger 66 from flying upward. Attached to the upper surface of the plunger 66 is the spring 69' which has a raised portion 70 at its extremity which engages the end of the lower stavev piled against the feed magazine 7. The 1 outer endof the plunger 66 is pivoted to one end of the link 71, the other end of which is pivoted to the upper end of the lever 72. The lower end of this lever is pivoted to the v table at 73. A block 74 is pivotally supported upon the lever 72. This block contains a hole throughwhich passes the connecting rod 75, which is carried by the crank 76 in the shaft 77 Theouter endof the rod 7 5 bearsa washer 7 8-held by apin 7 8 Between washer 78 and'the block 74' is a spring 7 9.- r

The driving mechanism for operating they, feedmg mechanism whichhas been described comprises thepulley wheel 80, to which power is applied from a; source not shown. This wheel is mounted upon one'end of a shaft 81, LHIJOII'thQ opposite end of which is 1 .9 i

the sprocket wheel 82. Upon the outerjends of the shafts 30, 31, 36, 37, 48, 49, 50, 51, 55, 56 are mounted the sprocket wheels. 83, 84, 85, 86, 87,88, 89, 90, 91, 92, all of which are of the same diameter. wheels 93, 94,95 are supported by: the bear ing frames 96, 97, 98, which are fastened't-o the table top. Sprocket wheels 99, 100 are of the same size and are mounted upon the" opposite ends of the shaft 101, which passes under the table and is supported on-bearings w extending downwardly from the tabletop. The sprocket wheel 102 is mounted upon the crank shaft 77. .These sprocket wheels are connected by the sprocket chain 103 passin 8' over the sprocket wheels 82, 93, 88, 87, {99, 89, 90, in the order named, and sprocket chain 104 passing over thesprocket wheels- 99, 91, 91, 84, 83, 102, 85, 86, 95, 92,111 the order named, as indicatedin Fig. 2. The cutting mechanismconsists of the cutter heads 105, 106, which are mounted upon the upper ends of the vertical shafts 107, 108. These shafts are supported bythe' bearings 109, 110, which are mounted upon the horizontal braces 4 (Fig. 5) of the table frame, and the bearings 111,112, which are j attached to blocks attached to the lower surface of-the table top. The cutter head 105 bears cutting tools 113 adapted to' cut-a I These tools project through a slot groove. inthe fixed guide 10. Cutter head 106 bears cutting tools 114 adaptedto cut-a tongue.

fixed guide 11. r

which power is applied from a source not shown. The Wheel 115 u-is'mounted 'jupon theshaft 11.6 whichlikewise bears thepulley Wheel 117. A belt 118 connects this-pulit i The idler sprocket 12 0 These tools project through a slot in the r ley wheel 117 with the pulley wheel 119 upon the vertical cutter shaft 107. Cutter shaft 108 is driven by the belt 120, which passes over the pu ley wheel 121 upon the shaft 107 and the pulley wheel 122 upon the shaft 108. The wheel 122 is preferably slightly smaller than wheel 121. This belt 120 is crossed so that the cutter heads are rotated in opposite directions. I

The operation of the machine is as fol lows :The staves to be tongued and grooved are stacked against the magazine 7 with their concave faces downward. The plunger 66 is forced forward by the movement imparted to the lever 72 by the crank 76. The raised portion 70 upon the spring 69 engages the lowest stave in the pile and carries it forward against the movable guide 12, which directs the stave between the feed rollers 28, 29 and 34, 35. These rollers, being pressed together in the manner heretofore described,

' grasp the stave and maintain their grasp upon it in spite of any irregularities in its thickness. The rollers carry the stave forward and at the same time, owing to the fact that they make an angle with the fixed guide 10, they press each point of the edge of the stave successively against the fixed guide 10 at the point at which the cutting tools 113 project through the guide 10. The cutter 105 is rotated rapidly in an anti-clockwise direction and the cutting tools 113 form a groove in the right hand edge of the stave as it is pressed against the guide 10 by the rollers. Just before the rear end of the stave emerges from the grip of the rollers 29, 35, the forward end of the stave enters between the transferring rollers 53, 54. These rollers carry the stave forward until its forward end engages the movable guide 13 which directs the end of the stave between the feed rollers 44, 45 and 46, 47. These rollers grasp the stave and, owing to their oblique position press the edge of the stave firmly against the fixed guide 11 while they are feeding it forward. The cutter head 106 is rotated in a clockwise direction and the tools 114 cut a tongue upon the left hand edge of the stave while the stave is forced ahead by the rollers. After the stave passes out of engagement with the rollers 45 and 47, it lies in the groove 6 until pushed out by the succeeding stave. The oblique grooves upon the surface of the feed rollers assist in simultaneously forcing the stave forward and holding its edge against the fixed guide at the point at which the cutting takes place. As the feed rollers 28, 29, 34, 35 are shorter than the width of the stave, they grasp the stave near its edge only. This enables them to obtain a firm grip upon it in spite of its dished shape. The position of the stave when held by these.

rollers is shown at S in Fig. 5. It will be noted that the portion of the stave gripped by the feed rollers is held substantially hori- Zontal so that the edge of the stave is held vertical at the point at which the cutting takes place. In consequence, the groove cut is at all points perpendicular to the edge of the stave. As the feed rollers 44, 45, 46, 47 are likewise shorter than the width of the stave, the tongue out is at all points perpendicular to the edge of the stave. The result is that the tongues and grooves of staves which have been passed through my machine fit perfectly when placed together to form a barrel or the like. As the upper feed rollers 28, 29 are afiixed to the table top and consequently maintain a fixed relation with the cutter head 105, the groove cut by the tools 113 is at all points the same distance from the upper or convex surface of the stave. For a similar reason, the tongue out by the tools 114 is at all points a uniform distance from the convex surface of the stave. More over, the tongues and grooves are cut at a uniform distance from the convex surface of the staves in all staves which are passed through the machine. The result is that when the staves are fitted togetherto form a barrel or the like, any irregularities which there may be in the thickness of the staves will cause irregularities in the inner surface of the barrel only, where they cannot be seen; and the outer surface of the barrel will be smooth.

I prefer to make the feed rollers 44, 45, 46, 47 slightly larger than the rollers 28, 29, 34, 35 for this reason: If the two sets of rollers are made of the same size, the staves pass more rapidly through the first set of rollers than through the second, since the cutter which is making the groove offers less resistance to the forward movement of the stave than the cutter which is making the tongue. Consequently, if staves be fed into the machine closetogether, the succeeding staves will catch up with the preceding staves as the latter are passing through the second set of rollers and overlap them. By making the second set of feed rollers slightly larger than the first, I force the staves by the tongue cutter as rapidly as they pass by the groove cutter. In consequence, staves may be fed through the machine close together without fear of catching up or overlapping. The same result may, of course, be obtained by revolving the second set of rollers at a slightly greater velocity than the first set, instead of making them slightly larger. To get the greatest possible efficiency from the machine, I found it desirable to rotate the tongue cutter a little more rapidly than the groove cutter.

If by any accident a stave catches as it is being fed forward by the plunger 66, the spring 7 9 yields allowing the plunger to re- 0nd feed rollers.

main fixed in spite of the rotation "of the crank '76. In this way breakage, of the stave or of parts of the feeding device is avoided. 4

The depth of the groove and the length 0.1 the tongue may be easily adjusted by varying the position of the fixed guides lO, ll byturning the bolts 17 of the adjusting devices 1a.

What I claim is 1. a machine for tonguingand grooving staves, the combination of a fixed guide having an aperture, a cutter projecting through said aperture, means for giving the stave a forward movement in a direction obliquev to said fixed guide, whereby the forward end of the stave is moved against and along said fixed guide, and rollers oblique to said fixed guide and adjacent -to said aperture arranged to grasp the stave when forced forward bysaid means.

2. In a machine for tonguingand grooving staves, the combination of a fixed guide having an aperture, a cutter projecting through said aperture, means for giving the stave a forward movement in a direction oblique to said fixed guide,vwhereby the forward end of the stave is moved against and along said fixed guide, androllers oblique to said fixed guide and adjacent to said aperture arranged to grasp" the stave when forced forward by said means, and a movable guide beside said fixed guide arranged to press the forward end of thestave against. the fixed guide before it reaches said rollers.

3. In a machine for tonguing and grooving staves, means for giving a stave an initial forward movement,-a fixed guide oblique to the direction of movement given the stave by said means and containing an aperture, feed rollers oblique to said fixed guide and adjacent to said aperture, a cutter projecting through said aperture, a movable guide beside said fixed guide arranged to press the forward end of the stave. against said fixed guide before it engages said feed rollers, transferring rollers arranged to give the stavea forward movement as 'it emerges from said feed rollers, a second fixed guide 7 oblique to the direction of movement given the stave by said transferring rollers and arranged to bear against the opposite edge of the stave from that which came in contact with the first fixed guide and containing an aperture, a cutter projecting through said aperture, feed rollers oblique to said second fixed guide and adjacent to said aperture, and a second movable guide beside said second fixedguide arranged to press the forward end of the stave against said second fixed guide-before it reaches said sec- I emw f r ns insa l r w: ing stave's, two cutters, means of less than oneflialf the width ofthe stave for a stave near one edge and feeding it forward while pressingeach portion of said edgesuccessively against one of said outters, means of less than one-half the width of the stave for grasping said stave near its other edge and moving it forward while.

pressing this edge against'the other of said,

cutters. I a

5. In a machine for aligning; and grew;

ing staves, a tongue cutter and a groovecutter, rollers of=ax1le length less than onehalf the width of a stave, arranged to grasp a stave near one edge and feed it forward while bringing each portion of said edge successively in contact with one of said cutters, and rollers of axile length less than one-half the width of a stave, arranged to graspv said stavenear other edge and. move it forward whilebrlnging thlsedgein" i contact with the other of said cutters, and

means for transferring the stave from saidrollers to said second men-.

the stave near oneedge and feeding it for for tonguing groov j 1 ward past one of said cutters,t.means for giving the, stave a transverse'movement as it passes said cutter,means for grasplng said stave near ts other edge, then moving it forward while passing this'edgeby the other of said cutters, and means for giving the-stave a transverse movement while pass ing this cutter. V

7. In a machinefor tonguing and groovmg barrel staves, a tongue cutter and, a

groove cutter, and fixed guides adjacent respectively to said cutters, rollers of axile length less than one-half the width of the staves and oblique to said fixedi guides ad:

jacent to said cutters arranged to graspthe stave near one edge and feed 1t forward while bringing each portioniof saidedge successively in contact with said cutter, other rollers of axile length less than one-halfthe width of the stave oblique to the fixed guide adjacent to the other of said cutters arranged to grasp said stave nearits other edge and move it forwardwhile bringing this edge in contact with "said cutter, and means for transferring the stave from said first mentioned rollers to said second mena:

tioned rollers. y

a 8. In the manufacture of barrel stavfes, a. method consisting'in shaping'and bilgi'n'g the stave and thereafter grasping the stave byone edge and passing this edge obliquely against a guide which controls the engage ment of a cutter with thisedge of the stave-- V 9. A method of tonguing and groovinga bilged stavec'omprising 'assing said stave between rollers which grip it near one edge only and carry that edge in contact with a cutter, and then passing it between rollers which grasp it near the other edge only and carry that edge in contact with a cutter.

10. A method of tonguing and grooving a bilged stave comprising passing said stave between rollers which grasp it near one edge only and carry that edge obliquely against a guide which controls the engagement of 10 a cutter with that edge of the stave and then passing it between rollers which grasp it near the other edge only and carry that edge obliquely against a guide which controls the engagement of a cutter with that edge instead.

HOWARD R. MoNEILL.

Witnesses:

EARL L. SNOVER, HELEN A. CREVELING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

